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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043346">Fantasia in Blue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/katopiyo/pseuds/katopiyo'>katopiyo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Evens Month 2020 [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gundam Wing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Evens Month 2020, Gen, M/M, canon adjacent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:02:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/katopiyo/pseuds/katopiyo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Duo and Quatre get to know each other a little better on the beach.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Duo Maxwell &amp; Quatre Raberba Winner, Duo Maxwell/Quatre Raberba Winner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Evens Month 2020 [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859044</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fantasia in Blue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Evens Month week 4.<br/>Somewhere between episodes 11 and 17. I don't know how to write these two during the Eve Wars. <i>Very</i> lightly implied 4→2.<br/>Built from the keywords “admiration,” “sunset,” “time,” “soft,” “walk,” “recovery,” “sleep,” “waves,” and “comfort.”<br/>Special thanks to a mutual for the more specific prompt “the evens and the ocean.”</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Duo shoots up with a loud shout from where he'd slept, breath ragged, the phantom smell of smoke and blood and death still lingering in his nose.</p><p>He clutches at his chest for a moment before he can regain his senses enough to look around the room. The off-white walls have taken on a slightly darker shade as the sun shines through the window, a little lower in the sky during transition between afternoon and evening. Distantly, he can hear bird songs and the trees rustling in the breeze. He takes a deep breath.</p><p>Quietly, a hesitant rhythm approaches from the hallway, footsteps tapping against smooth tile, gradually coming closer before a familiar head of platinum gold peeks through the doorway.</p><p>"Are you okay, Duo?" Quatre asks, stepping into the room and settling down on the cushions next to him. Duo remembers he’d been napping in the living room.</p><p>"...Have I been sleeping all day?" Duo returns with a question. He'd only meant to rest for a short while.</p><p>"You have. I didn't want to cut into your rest," Quatre laughs lightly. "I highly doubt we'll get another chance like this to spend time recovering, seeing as we're in the middle of a war, after all."</p><p>"I guess you have a point," Duo says, rising to stretch, a small groan escaping his throat. "Better not waste it moping around."</p><p>He turns back to Quatre, facing the broad window with a sigh.</p><p>"Time almost doesn't feel real here."</p><p>"...I get what you mean," Quatre agrees, though reluctant in his admission. "It feels strange to not be fighting. I have no idea what to do with myself except gather information."</p><p>Duo walks towards the window, idly placing a hand against the cool glass as he gazes outside. "How long have we been here…?"</p><p>"Just a few days," Quatre says.</p><p>"Feels like it's been ages," Duo mutters. "I still can't believe all of this mess. Heero, OZ… even the Maguanacs."</p><p>"I've got some bad memories coming back to haunt me, too," he adds under his breath.</p><p>Slowly, Quatre stands up. He figures he has to break the weird tension in the room somehow, but there aren't any words that come to mind until he joins Duo at the window, silently watching the waves on the distant shore.</p><p>"Now that I think about it, Duo," Quatre begins. The braided boy turns to look at him.</p><p>"Have you ever been to the ocean? The beach, I mean."<br/>
"Er… Not for fun."<br/>
"Would you like to?"</p><p>Duo tilts his head, taken a bit off guard. Quatre gives a nervous laugh, timidly scratching a cheek with his finger.</p><p>"I've gotten a little tired of staying cooped up in the house, so maybe we could go on a walk together," he suggests. "I mean, it's perfectly all right if you'd prefer not to, since you just woke up and all, I just-"</p><p>"Sure," Duo cuts into the blond's rambling, a small, lopsided grin crossing his face.</p><p>***</p><p>Duo kicks at the sand with a boot while Quatre crouches down near the waves and draws patterns with a stick found on the walk down from the house. The sun has sunken lower, the sky's colors blending into a warm mix of orange and pink and purple as the temperature gradually falls somewhere that isn't too hot or too cold.</p><p>"The ocean is so beautiful at sunset," Quatre sighs contentedly, watching the sparkling indigo waves crawl forward, then slowly recede, washing away imperfections on the shore.</p><p>"I guess," Duo shrugs, plopping down in the soft sand next to the other pilot. "I bet it's cold, though."</p><p>"If we come back when the sun is higher it won't be as bad," Quatre notes. "But I like it better at this time of day. The color of the sun and sky reflected on the water make it look like an endless sea of jewels."</p><p>"...Is that a rich person thing?"</p><p>"Huh? No - I…" Quatre stammers, cheeks dusting pink. "I just think it's pretty…! I've never seen anything like this in the colonies, that's all."</p><p>“I know,” Duo laughs heartily. "No need to explain yourself."</p><p>"But now that you say that, I get what you mean. There's a lot of stuff here that I never expected or thought I'd ever get to see," Duo admits, volume lowering nearly to a whisper. "I used to not understand what people thought was so great about Earth, but it really is nice once you get to see it."</p><p>"I'd always wanted to come here," Quatre offers a faint smile. "Though, I wouldn't say these were the ideal circumstances."</p><p>"Earth kids really do have it good, huh?" Duo sighs, idly scooping up sand and letting it run through his fingers. For a moment, Quatre watches before he speaks.</p><p>"I'm sure they have their own struggles to deal with, but… I do have to admit that I'm a little envious of them."</p><p>"Have you ever been to a school?" Duo asks. "Wait, that was a dumb way to ask. I mean, uh…"</p><p>"I haven't stayed undercover at an Earth school yet, no," Quatre chuckles. "You were saying?"</p><p>“Well, all school kids get to have fun, but I dunno, there’s just <em> something </em> about Earth kids, y’know?” Duo gestures vaguely, expression a bit disappointed as Quatre tilts his head before the other pilot continues. “...I guess the ones at the school I went to just don’t know what it's like to live with the same consistent fear we do in the colonies. Sometimes I just…"</p><p>"I wish I could be like them sometimes."</p><p>The words come out weirdly wistful.</p><p>After a long pause, Duo adds: “I wonder if we'd be leading better lives if we'd been born here instead.”</p><p>"I think I get what you mean," Quatre says softly. "But I have a question for you, Duo."</p><p>“Yeah?”<br/>
“Do you believe in destiny?”</p><p>“...That’s a loaded question,” Duo raises a brow. “Why?”</p><p>“I’m just curious,” Quatre smiles. “Do you?”</p><p>“I guess I sorta do.”<br/>
Why not completely?”<br/>
“You’re gonna make me explain <em> why</em>?”<br/>
“There’s no fun in taking things at face value.”</p><p>“Maybe not, but it sure is easier,” Duo lets out an exaggerated sigh, slumping forward to hug his knees. “You go first.”</p><p>“Well, I think some events are meant to happen, but...” Quatre explains. “I also think our actions affect their results.”</p><p>“I’m the same, I guess.”<br/>
“You’re not just saying that so you don’t have to think, are you?”<br/>
“Hell no! I might run and hide, but I never tell a lie - I told you that before, didn’t I?”</p><p>“I remember that, yes,” Quatre giggles. The sound is so pure that it almost shocks Duo's system. Hesitantly, he looks at Quatre, then looks away, and he finds he can't quite face him when he speaks again.</p><p>“So y’think us kids getting sent to Earth to fight for the colonies was 'destiny'?”</p><p>“There’s no way to prove it. I just like to think it could be a possibility,” Quatre says, rising back to his feet and dusting sand off his legs, eyes still on the sea. “Without us, the colonies might never see freedom, you know.”</p><p>“Even if we have to suffer more than average for the time being, I think it was for the best that we were born in the colonies - that we were sent here to fight for them,” he continues, something fleeting about him - his tone, his hands loosely clasped in front of him. A mix of emotions are hidden in his profile, pain and wistfulness suppressed to be minimal, but still present.</p><p>Duo glances at the blond, resting an elbow on a knee, not interrupting. Then, Quatre turns to him, the movement barely noticeable from afar.</p><p>“Otherwise, I likely wouldn’t have encountered the other pilots," he says, lips curving into a small, warm smile, "and I likely wouldn’t have been able to meet you.”</p><p>Quatre’s eyes meet Duo’s, and all the braided pilot can do is let out an awkward laugh.</p><p>“Now what do you mean by that?” he asks, the words tumbling stilted out of his mouth.</p><p>“I just enjoy your company,” Quatre replies smoothly. “You’re a very nice person to talk to.”</p><p>“...I wouldn’t exactly call myself ‘nice,’” Duo scoffs at himself, averting his gaze.</p><p>“You’re nicer than you give yourself credit for.”<br/>
“I’m definitely nowhere near your level, though, letting me stay here with you like this.”<br/>
“Taking care of fellow Gundam pilots is a given.”</p><p>Duo snorts. “Not to jerks like Heero, it’s not.”</p><p>“I thought you two were friends?” Quatre gives Duo a quizzical look.</p><p>“...I wanted to be,” Duo mumbles.</p><p>“I’m not him, but...” Quatre offers gently. “Would you like to be friends? You and me.”</p><p>“...You mean we weren’t already?”</p><p>Quatre blinks, floundering.</p><p>“Well, I… I didn’t want to assume.”</p><p>Duo bursts into a fit of laughter, a few tears coming to his eyes. Quatre joins him, shoulders shaking slightly as he loses his composure.</p><p>“Hey, can I call you ‘Quat’?” Duo asks, catching his breath as he hoists himself up and stands beside the other boy. </p><p>“Call me whatever you like,” Quatre welcomes the idea.</p><p>“Oh, then I’ve got a lot in mind,” Duo starts counting on his fingers, “‘Quat,’ ‘Q,’ and, uh… Hm…” Duo puts a hand to his chin.</p><p>“That’s only two,” Quatre comments, his smile shifting into a more smug grin in his amusement.</p><p>“I have more!” Duo protests. “Or, I will eventually.”</p><p>The pair’s comfortable laughter echoes, filling their little corner of the beach, joining the symphony of the ocean’s waves, ebbing and flowing against the shore. </p><p>For just a moment, with the formation of a new and unexpected friendship, Duo forgets all the reasons for his earlier grief.</p><p>As the sun sets, and the sky turns from orange, to scarlet, to a deep violet, a gentle breeze blows, rustling palm leaves. </p><p>The temperature is an even more comfortable cool, and a calm washes over Duo as he takes in the scent of the salty sea, fellow pilot there beside him, both of them enjoying a companionable silence.</p><p>Sometimes that kind of silence was all Duo needed.</p><p>Together with Quatre - for at least a little while longer - Duo hopes he can enjoy this brief moment of peace.</p>
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